Wednesday, January 27, 2016

55 Schools To Join The Ajinomoto Culinary Challenge Year 7

Filipinos are known for their love of food. We grow up watching our moms and lolas cook our favorite dishes in the kitchen. Some of us are lucky enough to be allowed to chop, stir and even come up with our own version at a very young age. Through the years, Ajinomoto is a part of our cooking essentials.

The 7th year of the Ajinomoto® Umami Culinary Challenge (UCC) proves to be even more exciting as it gathers 55 schools and universities from NCR, Ilocos, Bicol, Central and Southern Luzon and regional winners from Visayas and Mindanao. The nation’s best culinary teams will showcase their culinary prowess on Saturday, January 30, 2016 from 6:00 AM – 6:00 PM at the Philippine Trade and Training Center, Manila.

The Ajinomoto® UCC is an inter-school culinary competition where foodies and culinary enthusiasts meet with a common dedication to unite taste and health in food preparations. UCC is part of Ajinomoto Philippines Corporation’s advocacy to promote the benefit of umami taste in preparing deliciously nourishing recipes. Through its food brand slogan “Eat Well, Live Well.®”, Ajinomoto hopes that future chefs and nutrition professionals will create more deliciously nourishing food for Filipino families to enjoy and live life to the fullest.

The panel of judges is composed of Food and Nutrition luminaries: Chef Gene Gonzales, Chef Sau del Rosario, Chef James Antolin, Chef Colin McKay, Chef Eugene Raymundo, Dr. Celeste Tanchoco, Dr. Imelda Agdeppa, and Dr. Adela Ruiz to name a few. They were invited to provide valuable insights to student-competitors on how to apply culinary skills and nutrition knowledge in the creation of nourishing umami dishes.

Over 300 aspiring chefs will compete in three (3) culinary competition categories: Best Filipino Umami Dish, My Own Umami Creation and Umami Master and other non-culinary categories: the “Aminomazing Showdown” beverage concoction contest and the “My Umami Coach and I” food-styling competition. Finalists from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao will compete in the National Cooking Showdown.